On Friday, I got news of a friend who had been arrested on allegations of a felony drug possession. This is a man who I have gone into burning buildings with and I have learned a ton from him - his experience, his fire-fighting wisdom, and his leadership on the department. There is a strong brotherhood in the fire service, and this strength is unquestionable on the Shakopee Fire Department. He is one of my brothers.
Yesterday, I got news of a friend who resigned from his church because he had been having an affair with his assistant. This is a man who I had talked with, sought his wisdom, and learned from his success as a pastor of a growing church that met in a movie theater. There are things we are doing today at Meadow that are due to his influence. He too is my brother.
I will be honest and say that this has been a blow to my emotions. It was tough enough to hear the news about my brother on the fire department, but yesterday afternoon when I got the news about my brother in ministry - it sent me through a gammut of emotions ... heart-broken, confused, frustrated, anger, focus, dedication. In fact, when I got the news about Gary, I was so angry that all I could do was just tell Sandy, "I don't know what to do or think! How could this happen?"
I think of their wives and kids. Even if it is an allegation - an allegation will scar a marraige and family for years. In the case of a confirmed affair, the damage can be so severe that it often leads to the end of that marraige.
However, I refuse to let these alter my friendships with these two men. I refuse to let these temporaray situations alter the value they have in my life. (Yes, I said "have" as in present tense not "had" as in past tense.)
The city of Shakopee and the fire department are better today because of the unselfish service of Al. There are people who have been rescued and homes saved because of him. I refuse to let a bad decision or a series of bad decisions take away what he has done.
In the case of Gary, my friend in Georgia, there are thousands of people who are now headed for heaven because of his leadership and the church he started and built with the focus of reaching those who are far from God. He took a lot of criticism for his tactics and methodology, but he took it standing up because he was fulfilling a call from God to reach those no other church had reached.
I will pray for them, their wives, their kids. And I ask you to join me. They need it. They don't need to be reminded of the "what ifs" or "should'ves". There are already plenty of people who are rejoicing in their fall. I will not join the ranks of those who think they are better or have never done anything wrong. We cannot change the past. We can only change the future and I know both of these men know they have some work to do to repair what has been damaged. I will support them and do what I can do to help.
God is a God of restoration not condemnation. Why would I be any different? And not that I am interested in pushing my teaching, but my message yesterday carries extreme relevance in these two exact situations. What is interesting is that I wrote this message months ago before any of this came to light. You can listen to it here... "Getting Past Your Past"
Is there any good news in this? Absolutely! There is today and tomorrow which will be better! God is still a loving God. He is still sovereign and forgiving and full of unlimited grace. Is that a simplistic cliche'? Nope. It's truth.
On a related note...I have changed up my message for this coming Sunday. It will still be part of the "Girls with Grit" series, but due to recent events (more than just these two friends) that are really beating people up in life - I will be sharing some personal thoughts. If you are connected to either of these two situations and are feeling confused, frustrated, hurt, maybe even helpless and angry - you really need to be here. Or maybe you are just getting beat up in life - you too need to be here.
Comments